Although we have been cleaning every day of the pack and load days, we reserved today to thoroughly clean the house now that it is empty. We dropped the kids at a daycare and got to work. Thankfully it was only a couple of hours before it was all done. The rest of the day was spent at our hotel. Tomorrow we meet the carpet cleaners at the house and later that evening we do a walk through with our landlord. Easy stuff!
Now we are going to enjoy our mini vacation at the hotel. Once we are on the road for our actual PCS I'll post some more. Until then!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Moving Day!
Today is officially moving day. This is the day the truck comes and loads all of our things and drives away. The kids were home with us today, which I don't recommend. But that is the way it worked out. I convinced them to play on the back porch for the first hour or so after the truck arrived. When they couldn't stand it anymore I bribed them with chips. :) A little later I let them come in but they had to hang out with me and my husband in the kitchen where the fewest boxes were. That lasted a little bit because they thought it was cool to hang out sitting on the counter. Then my husband took them outside to look at the truck slowly filling up. Once the living room got cleared out we put a laptop on an empty box and let them watch a movie. That kept them busy and out of the way for another hour and a half. By that time the movers were nearly done so the kids were able to roam the house a little more freely.
The dog didn't do so well today. We gated him off in the back part of the guest bathroom, out of the way of the movers. He yiped and scrambled until I felt so bad for him that I carried him around the house with me most of the day. He has never been through a move and didn't really like it.
It was very busy today with all the activity of four movers, the kids and the dog, that we didn't do much cleaning. The one thing we did do was the vacuuming. After each room was cleared out I took a vacuum to it, finishing it all up and loading the vacuum on the truck last.
But once the movers were gone a little after lunch time we dug in and got a lot of cleaning done. We wiped base boards and doors, cleaned the pantry shelves and the shelves in the laundry room. We finished the last sliding glass door track (we have three sliding glass doors, so they were a big job), and wiped the vertical blinds. We cleaned the closet shelves and dusted all of the plates on the light sockets. Then we cleaned the front door and called it a night. It took another hour just to get the cars loaded with all of the kitchen supplies, dog crate, and other miscellaneous stuff we needed with us. We had a quick dinner, checked into a hotel, took our much needed showers, and watched the Olympics.
What a day! My husband is now officially on "leave in route." Since he is graduating soon we have family coming into town to celebrate before getting on the road for our new home. So he has taken leave that will be added on to his allowable travel days.
The dog didn't do so well today. We gated him off in the back part of the guest bathroom, out of the way of the movers. He yiped and scrambled until I felt so bad for him that I carried him around the house with me most of the day. He has never been through a move and didn't really like it.
It was very busy today with all the activity of four movers, the kids and the dog, that we didn't do much cleaning. The one thing we did do was the vacuuming. After each room was cleared out I took a vacuum to it, finishing it all up and loading the vacuum on the truck last.
But once the movers were gone a little after lunch time we dug in and got a lot of cleaning done. We wiped base boards and doors, cleaned the pantry shelves and the shelves in the laundry room. We finished the last sliding glass door track (we have three sliding glass doors, so they were a big job), and wiped the vertical blinds. We cleaned the closet shelves and dusted all of the plates on the light sockets. Then we cleaned the front door and called it a night. It took another hour just to get the cars loaded with all of the kitchen supplies, dog crate, and other miscellaneous stuff we needed with us. We had a quick dinner, checked into a hotel, took our much needed showers, and watched the Olympics.
What a day! My husband is now officially on "leave in route." Since he is graduating soon we have family coming into town to celebrate before getting on the road for our new home. So he has taken leave that will be added on to his allowable travel days.
Two Days of Packing
I was up before 7 the first morning of packing getting the house and the kids ready for the packers. I packed my toiletries and loaded the car with the rest of the stuff we are bringing. Then I went room to room and got it ready. I zip tied alarm clock cords, took bedding off the beds, unloaded the dish washer, and emptied the trash.
Unfortunately we had to take the dog to get his shots. I missed that he was overdue, and since he is going to be spending time with other dogs during our move I wanted to be sure he was all up do date. So my husband took him to the groomer/vet and brought home breakfast while I finished getting the house ready.
Once the kids had eaten I took them to their friends for the morning. The movers usually come in like a whirlwind on that first day so having the girls out of the house makes it easier to watch the movers, and it's more entertaining to them to go play anyway. As it turned out the movers were a bit slower than I am used to. They didn't even arrive until 10:30 am, there were only two of them instead of the typical three or four, and one was in training. So they moved a little slow. On the up side, it looked as though they took special care when packing our things.
So what is our job if the movers are packing us? It sounds crazy, but we have to sit and watch them pack all of our belongings. It's an odd thing to do, just sitting there and following them around from room to room. But that is what we are required to do. I have never had a problem with packers stealing or being careless. They are usually very good at their jobs. Even so, we sit and watch them pack for 8 hours a day, sometimes for two straight days.
After lunch I picked up the kids and brought them home for lunch, and then took them to another friends house to play for a couple more hours. They would rather play and it keeps them out of the packers way.
So the packers worked until quitting time at 5 o'clock. Our beds were still up so we stayed at our house that night. I would like to say we got a ton of cleaning done, but we were actually really tired so we just plugged the TV back in since they hadn't packed that yet either, and watched the Olympics.
On day two I took the girls to a friends and only one of the guys came to finish the packing and inventory every box. This time we did a lot more cleaning than watching. We were able to get the kitchen cupboards clean including the outside fingerprints. And we cleaned the oven, one entire bathroom, all the windows, sills, blinds and sliding glass door tracks. We cleaned all the fans and light fixtures, and wiped fingerprints off of doors, jams, walls, and wall switch plates.
The packer left mid-afternoon and we quite cleaning at bedtime. It was a long, productive day!
Unfortunately we had to take the dog to get his shots. I missed that he was overdue, and since he is going to be spending time with other dogs during our move I wanted to be sure he was all up do date. So my husband took him to the groomer/vet and brought home breakfast while I finished getting the house ready.
Once the kids had eaten I took them to their friends for the morning. The movers usually come in like a whirlwind on that first day so having the girls out of the house makes it easier to watch the movers, and it's more entertaining to them to go play anyway. As it turned out the movers were a bit slower than I am used to. They didn't even arrive until 10:30 am, there were only two of them instead of the typical three or four, and one was in training. So they moved a little slow. On the up side, it looked as though they took special care when packing our things.
So what is our job if the movers are packing us? It sounds crazy, but we have to sit and watch them pack all of our belongings. It's an odd thing to do, just sitting there and following them around from room to room. But that is what we are required to do. I have never had a problem with packers stealing or being careless. They are usually very good at their jobs. Even so, we sit and watch them pack for 8 hours a day, sometimes for two straight days.
After lunch I picked up the kids and brought them home for lunch, and then took them to another friends house to play for a couple more hours. They would rather play and it keeps them out of the packers way.
So the packers worked until quitting time at 5 o'clock. Our beds were still up so we stayed at our house that night. I would like to say we got a ton of cleaning done, but we were actually really tired so we just plugged the TV back in since they hadn't packed that yet either, and watched the Olympics.
On day two I took the girls to a friends and only one of the guys came to finish the packing and inventory every box. This time we did a lot more cleaning than watching. We were able to get the kitchen cupboards clean including the outside fingerprints. And we cleaned the oven, one entire bathroom, all the windows, sills, blinds and sliding glass door tracks. We cleaned all the fans and light fixtures, and wiped fingerprints off of doors, jams, walls, and wall switch plates.
The packer left mid-afternoon and we quite cleaning at bedtime. It was a long, productive day!
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